mousy

«mousy» in Mova's school dictionary: A dull light brown colour, like a mouse — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 1 sentence of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

adjective (mousy or mousey, mousier, mousiest)

meaning for a pupil

1) (of hair) A dull light brown colour, like a mouse. tree →

2) (of a person) Quiet, shy and not easily noticed. tree →

3) Like a mouse or smelling of mice. tree →

sense in the lessons

Used in stories to describe looks and character: «a mousy little man». In Alice there are many mice; a «mousy» smell can mean mice live in a place. It can sound unkind when said about someone's hair or character, so be careful using it about real people.

examples

• She had mousy brown hair tied in a ponytail. tree →
• The new boy was mousy and hardly spoke. tree →
• The old shed had a mousy smell. tree →
• A mousy little clerk sat behind the desk. tree →
• Don't call people mousy – it can hurt their feelings. tree →
• The mousy kitten hid under the sofa. tree →

note

Both «mousy» and «mousey» are correct. Comparative: mousier, mousiest. Can be unkind about a person.

In the corpora

• Taffy «sat mousy-quiet for ten whole minutes» while her Daddy scratched on birch-bark with a shark's tooth.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «mousy» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.